The work would have been for naught without a win Wednesday evening at Cedar Beach in Allentown.

The Slaters secured the victory Bisci sought, receiving 20 combined points from Morgan McCollian and Chandler Zungolo in a 36-27 win over Upper Perkiomen to open the girls portion of the Stellar "Catch A Rising Star" Basketball Showcase.

Parkland's varsity team joined Bangor as a first-night winner, routing Palisades 48-14 in the first game of the double-elimination tournament. Six Trojans scored at least five points in their victory, with Hannah Gombos dropping in a team-best nine.

Bangor and Parkland both advanced to second-round games at 5 p.m. Friday. Parkland will face Boyertown No. 1, while Bangor will take on Quakertown. Boyertown No. 1 and Quakertown were two of seven teams in the 25-team field to receive byes into the winners bracket second round.

Bangor will have played a lot of basketball before it sees Quakertown. The Slaters are also competing in the second of the two Holy Family tournaments run by Central Catholic coach Mike Kopp each summer. That tournament starts Friday, with Bangor scheduled to play twice in the opening day.

The Slaters will send their full team to Holy Family for a 1:05 p.m. game against Warren Hills before splitting up for the afternoon. They have a 4:20 p.m. game in the Holy Family tournament against Shamokin in addition to their 5 p.m. game at Stellar.

McCollian and fellow rising senior Brianna Bisci are two players who will head to Cedar Beach after Bangor's first game at Holy Family. McCollian scored a team-high 12 points against Upper Perkiomen, while Bisci, who is returning from knee surgery, had two points.

McCollian and Bisci started for the Bangor team that won the District 11 Class 4A title over the winter. They and Zungolo, a key reserve during the winter, figure to form Bangor's backbone for the 2012-13 season.

"With the girls last year, we had a lot of 3-point shooters," McCollian said. "We still have some 3-point shooters, but we don't take as many 3s as we did last year. We're working on it. It's getting there slowly.

"We played really well as a team," she added.

Bill Bisci, who is back as a head coach after three years as a Bangor assistant, also was pleased with his team's play Wednesday. It was one of a few times all his players were together this summer.

"I think it's good that we were able to get the ball inside to our big people," Bisci said. "Our guards did a decent job of being able to pass the ball around and getting it in there. We need to finish a little bit better, but it's outdoors.

"They want to do well in the tournament, so there's some nerves that way. There's seven seniors, but only two played varsity last year. So we're trying to teach on the fly."

Parkland is also undergoing adjustments because of graduation. The Trojans lost their top three scorers, including Morning Call all-area first-teamer Olivia Hassler.

They still have a solid group of rising seniors who logged heavy varsity minutes last season, including Gombos, Allison Cressman (five points), Callie Krajcir (six) and Sierra Derti (three). Krajcir scored all six of her points in the first half as the Trojans opened a 27-5 lead in rolling past the Pirates.

Parkland is seeking a third straight trip to the title game at Stellar but its first championship in that span. The Trojans lost to Nazareth in the 2010 final and Oley Valley last summer.

"We talked tonight about making it to Sunday, and if you make it to Sunday, give yourself a chance to play for a championship," Parkland coach Wes Spence said. "It's a great time for the kids to be able to bond and just get to play together and build the chemistry."

The girls tournament ramps up Thursday with seven more first-round games, which will leave the winners bracket at 16 teams entering Friday. A 5 p.m. game between Saucon Valley and Nazareth and a 6 p.m. matchup of Southern Lehigh and Northampton highlight Thursday's slate.